Grove Bank & Trust Has $1.27 Million Stock Position in Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP)

Grove Bank & Trust raised its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing, Inc. (NASDAQ:ADP) by 2.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,342 shares of the business services provider’s stock after buying an additional 94 shares during the quarter. Grove Bank & Trust’s holdings in Automatic Data Processing were worth $1,271,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the business. Brady Martz Wealth Solutions LLC acquired a new position in Automatic Data Processing during the 4th quarter valued at $1,066,000. Cambridge Advisors Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.9% during the 4th quarter. Cambridge Advisors Inc. now owns 4,142 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $1,212,000 after purchasing an additional 79 shares during the period. Kelly Financial Services LLC acquired a new position in shares of Automatic Data Processing during the fourth quarter valued at about $5,436,000. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Automatic Data Processing by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Aaron Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 8,805 shares of the business services provider’s stock valued at $2,577,000 after buying an additional 103 shares during the period. Finally, Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Automatic Data Processing by 11.1% during the fourth quarter. Moss Adams Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 868 shares of the business services provider’s stock worth $255,000 after buying an additional 87 shares in the last quarter. 80.03% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Brian L. Michaud sold 362 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $293.83, for a total value of $106,366.46. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 13,706 shares in the company, valued at $4,027,233.98. This trade represents a 2.57 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Sreenivasa Kutam sold 38,975 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $300.00, for a total value of $11,692,500.00. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 32,604 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $9,781,200. This represents a 54.45 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 42,129 shares of company stock worth $12,604,872 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 0.21% of the company’s stock.

Automatic Data Processing Price Performance

NASDAQ:ADP opened at $296.18 on Friday. Automatic Data Processing, Inc. has a 12 month low of $231.27 and a 12 month high of $309.63. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $297.90 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $279.99. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.56. The firm has a market cap of $120.68 billion, a PE ratio of 31.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.34 and a beta of 0.79.

Automatic Data Processing (NASDAQ:ADP) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The business services provider reported $2.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.21 by $0.12. Automatic Data Processing had a return on equity of 82.36% and a net margin of 19.72%. The business had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.77 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $2.08 EPS. Automatic Data Processing’s revenue was up 7.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Automatic Data Processing, Inc. will post 9.93 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Automatic Data Processing Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, April 1st. Stockholders of record on Friday, March 14th will be paid a $1.54 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Friday, March 14th. This represents a $6.16 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.08%. Automatic Data Processing’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.74%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have commented on ADP. TD Cowen upped their price target on Automatic Data Processing from $276.00 to $285.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, November 1st. Jefferies Financial Group upped their target price on Automatic Data Processing from $260.00 to $290.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays lifted their price target on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $310.00 to $325.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $267.00 to $315.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 31st. Finally, Mizuho upped their target price on shares of Automatic Data Processing from $281.00 to $310.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, seven have given a hold rating and three have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $289.91.

About Automatic Data Processing

Automatic Data Processing, Inc provides cloud-based human capital management solutions worldwide. It operates in two segments, Employer Services and Professional Employer Organization (PEO). The Employer Services segment offers strategic, cloud-based platforms, and human resources (HR) outsourcing solutions.